The Special Period (Spanish: Período especial), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (Período especial en tiempos de paz), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early to mid-1990s. The situation improved towards the end of the decade once Hugo Chávez's Venezuela emerged as Cuba's primary trading partner and diplomatic ally, and especially after the year 2000, once Cuba–Russia relations improved under the presidency of Vladimir Putin. Privations during the Special Period included extreme reductions of rationed foods at state-subsidized prices, severe energy shortages, and the shrinking of an economy forcibly overdependent on Soviet imports. The period radically transformed Cuban society and the economy, as it necessitated the introduction of organic agriculture, decreased use of automobiles, and overhauled industry, health, and diet countrywide. People were forced to live without many goods and services that had been available since the beginning of the 20th century.
Background
Beginning in 1986, Cuba underwent a series of economic reforms known as the "Rectification process", that aimed at heavily regulating private businesses, and ending free markets in Cuba. The reforms were conducted in reaction against reforms in the Soviet Union, like Perestroika. The Cuban economy faced a decline in production after the implementation of the reforms.
The idea of a "special period" became a concept in Cuban political discourse in the 1980s. It was first used in the context of national defense planning to describe a scenario in which an invasion by the United States might force Cuba into a state of emergency and national siege. In 1990, Fidel Castro delivered a speech to the Federation of Cuban Women in which he stated that the "special period in times of war" had been studied in the event of a total U.S. blockade of Cuba, and that if serious problems in the Soviet Union led to a disruption of oil supplies, it would lead to a "special period in times of peace". As instability increased in the Soviet Union, later in 1990 Castro stated that Cuba was now entering that special period in time of peace.
History
Immediate shortages In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, resulting in a large-scale economic collapse throughout the newly independent states which once comprised it. During its existence, the Soviet Union provided Cuba with large amounts of oil, food, and machinery. In the years following the Soviet Union's collapse, Cuba's gross domestic product shrank 35%, imports and exports both fell over 80%, and many domestic industries shrank considerably. Food and weapon imports stopped or severely slowed. The largest immediate impact was the loss of nearly all of the petroleum imports from the Soviet Union; Cuba's oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts. Before this, Cuba had been re-exporting any Soviet petroleum it did not consume to other nations for profit, meaning that petroleum had been Cuba's second largest export product before 1990. Once the restored Russian Federation emerged from the former Soviet Union, its administration immediately made clear that it had no intention of delivering petroleum that had been guaranteed to the island by the USSR; this resulted in a decrease in Cuban consumption by 20% of its previous level within two years. The effect of this was severe, with many Cuban industries being unable to run without petroleum. Entirely dependent on fossil fuels to operate, the major underpinnings of Cuban society—its transport, industrial and agricultural systems—were paralyzed. There were extensive losses of productivity in both Cuban agriculture, which was dominated by petroleum-fuelled tractors, combines, and harvesters, and in Cuban industrial capacity. The early stages of the Special Period were defined by a general breakdown in transportation and agricultural sectors, fertilizer and pesticide stocks (both of those being manufactured primarily from petroleum derivatives), and widespread food shortages. Australian and other permaculturists arriving in Cuba at the time began to distribute aid and taught their techniques to locals, who soon implemented them in fields, raised beds, and urban rooftops across the nation. Organic agriculture soon developed, supplanting the old industrialized form of agriculture Cubans had grown accustomed to. Relocalization, permaculture, and innovative modes of mass transit had to be rapidly developed. For a time, waiting for a bus could take three hours, power outages could last up to sixteen hours, and food consumption was cut back to one-fifth of its previous level. The average daily dietary energy consumption of Cuban citizens during the periods of 1990–92 and 1995–97 were 2,720 and 2,440 kcal/person/day respectively. By 2003, average caloric intake had risen to 3,280 kcal/person/day. According to the FAO, the average minimum daily energy requirement is about 1,800 kilocalories (7,500 kJ) per person.
1994 protest
Thousands of Cubans protested in Havana on 5 August 1994, some chanting "Libertad!" ("Freedom!"). The protest, in which some protesters threw rocks at police, was dispersed by the police after a few hours. A paper published in the Journal of Democracy argued that this was the closest that the Cuban opposition could come to asserting itself decisively. In response to the Maleconazo, Raúl Castro reinstated farmers markets. In these markets, farmers could sell surplus produce to the state to fulfill quotas. Though farmers were now incentivized to turn a profit on their crops, the markets they participated in were still heavily regulated and taxed. This, along with the price restrictions, ensured that the cost of goods would not escalate as it did in the 1980s.
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